Quote:
Originally Posted by djulian
Hi Poppaea - Apologies if I gave offense. None was intended. The anti-war reading of the Iliad feels strained--I've heard it elsewhere and always thought, "huh?" And in my experience, the stranger readings of texts tended to show up in my literature classes. (Though some very insightful readings and analyses showed up as well!)
I don't think it's a "pro-war" book. Homer was certainly capable of saying, "Oh, the waste and horror and stupidity of war! Why must men give their lives for an evil ruler? Let the wars cease!" But he didn't. The war is a setting in which Homer develops several themes on human nature, the inscrutable and unreliable character of the Greek gods, the value of honor and loyalty when a person is faced with certain disaster, the foolishness of wounded pride, the way in which wrath drives our actions, the futility of fate, etc. He gives those who die in battle their due as characters, but he also portrays various warriors as heroic and their deeds in battle as heroic as well. At times, he glorifies acts of war and killing.
Anyhow, please forgive me if I offended you. Literature allows for many opinions!  |
I think it helps to consider the context of Homer's audience as well. The Spartans for example were big on military things so a total anti-war poem would have gone over like the proverbial lead balloon.